Dollies’ Clothes

     It all started with a little girl called Miriam who had a number of dollies who each possessed a variable range of clothing. Say- one might have just a cotton shift, and another maybe a whole velvet ensemble of bonnet, jacket and skirt, and others with varicose ranges in between. So Miriam devised what came to be known as ‘the orphanage system’, by which all the dollies were obliged to hand in all their clothes to the Matron (Miriam) who would share all the clothes out equally. Then as each new dolly came to live at Miriam’s orphanage, they would be obliged to hand in all their clothes, then draw just enough to suit their needs. Now this may sound a bit harsh, but at least they weren’t subjected to stripping off for a hot bath and a cold shower, and then report to the nit nurse, who would have shaved their little heads to paint their scalps with purple iodine. But that didn’t happen.
     In fact, what did happen was that Miriam spoke to her Grandma about random shortages of clothing at the orphanage, so Grandma, who was an excellent knitter, became quite adept at knitting garments to make up the short fall. So it became quite common for Grandma to ‘phone Mummy to ask things like ‘Will you measure Jayme’s waist?’ or ‘Can you tell me Gertrude’s skirt length?’
        So the years passed quite pleasantly, and the dollies began to congregate on shelves or in cupboards. So more years passed, until another little girl, Isabelle, appeared, and she attracted more little dollies, and in fact, some of the old dollies came out, to join in what very soon became established as ‘Isabelle’s Orphanage’. Then before you could say ‘Cabbage Patch’, Miriam’s Mummy, who had now graduated to the mantle of ‘Isabelle’s Nannie’, was taking orders for ‘a new bonnet for Roxie’ and ‘a new skirt for Lexie’, and so on.
       One wonders where it will all end, if ever.

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